In this Internet-crazed age, we are so starved for headlines that we create them even when there are no headlines to create.

As an example, Eklund of Hockeybuzz has been spinning yarns daily about trade rumours for weeks even months now... and he is not the only one.

All of this hype, along with a huge shortage of what teams really need artificially drives up the price of players that teams want to get rid of. They want as much as they can get for them... as well they should...

HOWEVER, the monotony of hearing the same-old same-old everyday non-news about the pending trading of Rick Nash and Carter is just very wearing.

Just imagine how it must be for these players who have to answer the same stupid questions everyday and have to protect themselves by saying all of the right things in case they end up not getting moved, no matter how they feel about being where they are.

In the end most of these moves are an overvalued waste of assets, a pie-in-the-sky reach for a hope somewhere that this particular player will be the difference and will help them win Lord Stanley.

Do a better job in the draft and build your organizations so that you won't have to be desperately trying to dump players in favour of others who are not going to help anymore than the ones you have.

Over the past number of years we gave away countless second round picks for rentals (Bondra, Stillman, Saprykin, Sutton, Comrie (for a 1st)) that brought very little to the table and then went to other teams... as did those picks. My examples might lack a bit in accuracy as to what we got, but the point here is that we paid a hefty price for our folly.

Yes, there are examples where this kind of strategy actually works. However, I'd rather see us focus on getting better at drafting and building our own players.

The teams that do that well year in and year out do not need to rely on this trade deadline exercise in desperation to pull a rabbit out of a hat.